Virtual lab takes classwork home

Inside the Moore Building's computer labs, 12 dedicated machines are providing Engineering students with a way to do their work when the lab is closed or an idea pops into their head while taking a shower.

The Engineering school's new "virtual lab" puts students in touch with the latest computer applications from the comfort of their dorm rooms or their off-campus houses.

By way of a special "Virtual Network Client" software -- available for free from the Engineering department -- students can log in from any computer, whether it be a PC or a Macintosh, as long as it's connected to the Internet.

Students can access a slew of applications, including Labview, Maple, Circuit tutor, Pro-Engineer and Arena. These applications then allow students to conduct simulated experiments or calculations for ongoing lab work.

"It's been really helpful, especially in terms of being able to finish off projects in the middle of the night," Engineering senior Jessica Fosler said.

Engineering Professor Jorge Santiago, who has been involved with the virtual lab's implementation, said he believes that the system will allow students to be constantly thinking and have the outlet to express these thoughts whenever and wherever they want.

"It brings another degree of freedom for the students," Santiago said. "The students can most efficiently utilize their time by doing their laboratory work, for example, at night."

Costing approximately $25,000 and installed with financial support from the Ford Motor Company and Bell Atlantic, the virtual lab's 12 machines were built by Dell and carry all of the common software used by the Engineering School.

Administrators hope that it may one day be possible to conduct actual experiments without being in the lab.

"What is going to happen in the very near future is that they will be able to have instruments speak to the computer," Santiago said. "They can have access to the instruments from the dorm or their homes in West Philadelphia and obtain hard data."

Helen Anderson, senior director of computing and educational technology services, said the virtual lab was only the beginning of a wide range of possible Internet innovations.

"What we're trying to do is provide a really fantastic lab experience without making a whole big increase in the amount of space and money that we spend on labs," Anderson said.

"There's all these different kinds of experiments we're doing to try to make engineering labs better and more cost effective and more lab experiments available to more people."

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